Slitting roll stand



p 1933- H. A. KESSLER SLITTING ROLL STAND Filed April 50, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet l 1 ill! gwwntoz Jlizwy (Z, ffessiw' Sept. 19, 1933. A KESSLER 4 1,927,407

SLITTING ROLL STAND Filed April 30, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 19, 1933. H, A, ss 1,927,407

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL ID 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Sept. 19, 1933. H. A. KESSLER 1,927,407

' SLITTING ROLL STAND Filed April 30, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ][a1';17 4. Xavi Batented Sept. 19, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SLITTING ROLL STAND Application April 30, 1931. Serial No. 533,977

Claims.

This invention relates to an improved slitting roll stand for use in connection with the manufacture of expanded'metal products.

In general a stand of the type in which fea- 5 tures of the present invention are incorporated includes co-operating slitting rolls formed with opposed peripheral rows of coincidentally 'arranged scoring ribs between which the blank from which the product is to be formed is passed and during which operation the said product is formed with longitudinal rows of slits. The length of the slits, of course, is determined by the circumferential extent of the scoring ribs.

One object of the invention is to provide a stand in which slitting rolls of varying diameters may be employed, such a construction enabling the use of rolls having scoring ribs of varying circumferential extent so that thev blanks which are to be expanded may be formed with slits of different lengths in order to. meet different requirements.

A further object is to provide for the adjustment of the slitting rolls so that their scoring ribs may be adjusted to coincide.

The invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a stand embodying features of the invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical section of the stand taken along line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a horizontal section taken along line 44 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a detail section taken along Line 5--5 of 'Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a detail section taken along line 66'of Figure 2.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view in elevation of the mechanism by which the scoring ribs of the slitting rolls may be made to coincide. The invention is illustrated and described in connection with the slitting of blanks from which 45 expanded load bearing members are produced.

It is to be understood, however, that such illustration and description is by way of example only, as the various features of the invention may be availed of, with the advantages attendant therewith, in the production'of various expanded metal products.

The slitting roll stand, as illustrated, includes opposed housings 10 which may be suitably connected in spaced relation to provide a unitary construction. The housings 10 are similar in construction and are formed with opposed windows 11 in which shafts .12 and 13 are mounted, the said shafts carrying upper and lower slitting rolls 14 and 15 respectively. The shaft 12 is supported in the windows of the housings by vertically adjustable bearing blocks 16. The latter are formed with depressions 17 to which lubricant may be delivered by pipes 18. The depressions 1'7 communicate with thebearing races 19 of the upper bearing blocks through suitable openings formed therein. Lubricant is supplied to the lower bearing block 21 from the upper blocks, the lower bearing blocks being formed with recesses 20 and ducts 23 through which the lubricant flows from said recesses, (see Figure 4), to the bearing races 22.

The lower bearing blocks 21 are secured in the windows by suitable bolts 24 against spacing blocks 25. The upper bearing blocks are supported in the windows at such a position that the ribs of the slitting rolls coincide, the means by which the upper blocks are supported including two pairs of vertical rods 26, each pair being connected at their lower ends to one of the upper bearing blocks and being connected at their upper ends to a cross piece 27. The cross pieces 27 are carried upon shafts 28 which are extensions of adjusting screws 29. The shafts are formed with annular shoulders 30 upon which the cross pieces rest. The screws 29 are carried in the housings 10 by sleeve-like members 31 which at their lowerends are enlarged as at 32 and at their upper ends are threaded so that they may be secured in the housings as by nuts 33. At their lower ends, the screws 29 bear against suitable wear plates 34 carried by the blocks 16. p

The shaft extensions 28 of the screws are, as illustrated, provided, abovethe cross pieces 27, with gears 35 and beyond the latter the said shafts are formed to co-operate with suitable operating means. The gears 35 mesh with an idler gear 36, it being understood, of course, that the purpose of the latter is to insure similar movements of the opposite ends of the shaft 12 when either of the screws 29 are adjusted' The slitting rolls 14 and 15 are formed with the usual scoring ribs 3'? which are arranged in peripheral rows, the ribs of the lower roll coinciding and co-operating with the ribs of theupper roll to slit the blankpassed between them in a predetermined manner. As previously mentioned, the invention is illustrated in connection with the slitting of blanks from which expanded load bearing members are to be produced and the ribs 37 of the scoring rolls are arranged to no slit the web of the blank in the manner in which diamond mesh lath-so-called is slit, that is to say, with the slits of each row in staggered or break-joint relation to the slits of the adjacent row or rows.

There are ordinarily three rows of such slits and the slitting rows are, therefore, provided with three peripheral rows of scoring ribs 37. Cooperating with the slitting rolls 14 and 15 are collars 38, the peripheries of which engage each other, the said collars aiding in supporting the slitting rolls in such a manner that the ribs thereof co-operate in the manner desired. The collars 38 and slitting rolls are suitably supported upon the outer ends of the shafts 12 and 13 as by nuts 39. The inner marginal portions of the collars 38 are formed to provide with the marginal portions of the slitting rolls a passage which is similar to the cross section of the flange or chord of the blank from which the load bearing member is to be produced, the said passage guiding the blank so that the slits will be formed in the web at the required distance from the chords or flanges thereof.

The length of the slits formed in the blank depends, of course, upon the circumferential extent of the scoring ribs 37. In accordance with the invention means is provided for enabling the use of slitting rolls of varying diameters in order that the length of the slits formed in the blank may be varied to meet dinerent requirements. The use of slitting rolls of different diameters requires that the shafts 12 and 13 be capable of relative bodily movement. To this end, therefore, the screws 29 are operable to raise and lower, as occasion may demand, the blocks 16. In this connection, it will be noted that in the passage of a blank between the slitting rolls considerable pressure is brought to bear against the screws 29 and hence the screws and sleeve-like members 31 are designed to withstand such pressures. In order to enable the use of larger slitting rolls both of the operating shafts 28 of the screws may be rotated in an anti-clockwise direction, whereupon the shaft 12 is moved away from the shaft 13, it being noted that the width of the idler gear 36 is such as to enable co-operation between it and the gears 35 during the upward movement of the latter.

The mechanism by which the slitting rolls are driven is designed to permit achustment, in the manner described, of the shafts upon which the said rolls are mounted. For this purpose, the shafts 12 and 13 carry gears 41 and 42 which mesh with a pair of driving gears 43 and 44 respectively. The former is mounted upon a shaft 45 while the latter is mounted upon a shaft 46. The shaft 46 is adapted for connection to power through the agency of a suitable coupling member 47.

It will be apparent that by driving the gears 41 and 42 by the independent driving gears 43 and 44 the shafts 12 and 13 may be adjusted toward and away from each other within a substantial range of movement without affecting to an objectionable degree the co-operation between the driven gears 41 and 42 and the driving gears 43 and 44. In other words, the adjustment of the shaft 12 to enable the use of varying sizes of scoring rolls requires no adjustment of thedriving mechanism which automatically adjusts itself to changed operating conditions. The limits of the range of movement of the shaft 12 are dependent to a large extent upon the relative diameters of the driven gears 41 and 42 and the driving gears 43 and 44 and in the design of a stand, therefore, the relative diameters of the driven and driving gears are proportioned so as to enable adjustment of the shaft 12 within predetermined limits.

The slitting rolls are preferably keyed upon their respective shafts. In mounting the rolls upon their. shafts, it is necessary that they be adjusted so that the ribs of one coincide with the ribs of the other, that is to say, each rib must co-operate with its companion rib upon the other roll, its terminal portions coinciding with the terminal portions of the said companion rib. In order, therefore, to enable adjustment of the slitting rolls so that their ribs coincide, one of the shafts, preferably the shaft 12, is connected with the gear 43 by a clutch mechanism which permits adjustment of the shaft 12 and hence of the slitting roll carried by it. The shaft 12 is, as has been described, connected to the gear 43 by the gear 41. The latter, however, is connected to the shaft 12 by a sleeve 48 which is loosely mounted upon the said shaft. A clutch member 49 is fixed to the outer end of the sleeve 48 and a co-operating clutch member 50 is fixed to the end of the shaft 12, the two said clutch members being formed with bevelled faces 51. In order to secure the said clutch members against relative movement and hence enable driving of the shaft 12 by the gear 43, a pair of clamping rings 52 and 53 is employed. The said rings are provided with inner opposed inclined faces which co-operate with the beveled faces on the clutch members 49 and 50. As best shown in Figure 7, the member 53 is formed with notches 54 which co-operate with projections 55 formed on the ring 52. The two rings may be drawn together by means of suitable bolt fastenings 56 which pass through suitable openings formed in the clamping rings. The bolts 56 clamp the clutch members 49 and 50 against relative movement and the notches and projections formed in the rings 53 and 52 respectively, prevent any shearing stress being imparted to the bolts. It will be apparent that the power which is imparted to the gear 41 is transmitted to the shaft 12 through the clutch members 49 and 50. The shaft, therefore, may be disconnected from the gear 43 so that it may be angularly adjusted without a corresponding movement of the gear 43 by loosening of the bolts 56. A collar 53a is, as illustrated, secured upon the end of the shaft 13 and bears against the periphery of the ring 53. Thus, the shafts which carry the slitting rolls are capable of accommodating rolls of a diameter necessitated by the required circumferential extent of the scoring ribs, the said shafts also being capable of relative angular movement in order that the scoring ribs of the slitting rolls may be made to coincide. 4

The mechanism by which the shaft 12 is adjusted bodily relative to the lower shaft may also be availed of to compensate for any reduction in the circumferential extent of the ribs 3'7 such as may occur upon wearing or regrinding. It is to be understood, of course, that the number of peripheral rows of ribs 3'7 may be varied to meet different requirements and that blanks other than blanks from which load bearing members are to be formed may be slit by passage through the scoring rolls which may, in such case, be formed with scoring ribs arranged in such a manner and of such a form as to carry out the purpose in view.

I claim as my invention:

1. A slitting roll stand including-a pair of rolls provided with scoring ribs, shafts by which said rolls are carried and by which the scoring ribs are supported in co-operating relation to slit a blank as it is passed between them, means for driving said shafts and means for enabling angular adjustment of one of said shafts relative to the other, whereby the scoring ribs of the roll carried by the adjustable shaft may be adjusted angularly relatively to the scoring ribs of the roll carried by the other shaft, said means including a sleeve loosely mouned on one of said shafts and by which power is transmitted to said shaft, a

clutch member fixed to said shaft, a co-operating clutch member fixed to said sleeve and means for securing said clutch members against relative movement.

2. A slitting roll stand including a pair of rolls provided with scoring ribs, shafts by which said rolls are carried and by which the scoring ribs are supported in co-operating relation to slit ablank as it is passed between them, a sleeve loosel y mounted upon one of said shafts, a gear carried by said sleeve, a gear carried by the other shaft, driving gears meshing with the gear carried by saidsleeve and the gear carried by the said other shaft, one of said driving gears being adapted for connection to power and means for enabling angular adjustment of one of said shafts relative to the other, whereby the scoring ribs of the roll carried by the adjustable shaft may be adjusted angular relatively to the scoring ribs of the roll carried by the other shaft, said means including said sleeve, a clutch member fixed to said sleeve, a co-operating clutch member fixed to the shaft carried by said sleeve and means for securing said clutch members against relative angular movement when the ribs of the roll carried by the adjustable shaft have been adjusted to the angular position desired.

3. A slitting roll stand including a pair of rolls provided with scoring ribs, shafts by which said rolls are carried and by which the scoring ribs are supported in co-operating relation to slit a blank as it is passed between them, a sleeve loosely mounted upon one of said shafts, a gear carried by said sleeve, a gear carried by the other shaft,

a pair of meshing driving gears, one of which shaft relative to the ribs of the roll carried by the clutch member fixed to the shaft carried by said sleeve and means for securing said clutch members against relative angular movement whenthe ribs of the roll carried by the adjustable shaft have been adjusted to the angular position desired.

4. A slitting roll stand including a pair of rolls provided with scoring ribs, shafts by which said rolls are carried and by which the scoring ribs are supported in co-operating relation to slit a blank 35 as it is passed between them, means for adjusting one of said shafts bodily relative to the other in order to enable the accommodation of rolls of varying diameters, thereby to produce slits of varying lengths, means for angularly adjusting one of said shafts with respect to the other so as to angularly adjust the ribs of the rolls carried by the said shaft relative to the ribs of the roll carried by the other shaft, said means including a sleeve loosely mounted on one of said shafts, a gear carried by said sleeve, co-operating clutch members fixed to said sleeve and the shaft carrying said sleeve and means for preventing relative angular movement between said clutch members,

a gear carried by the other of said shafts, gears meshing with the gears carried by said sleeve and said other shaft and by which the said rolls are driven.

5. A slitting roll stand including a pair of rolls provided with scoring ribs, shafts by which said rolls are carried and by which the scoring ribs are supported in co-operating relation to slit a blank as it is passed between them, means for adjusting one of said shafts bodily relative to the other in no order to enable the accommodation of rolls of varying diameters, thereby to produce slits of varying lengths, means for angularly adjusting one of said rolls relative to the other so as to angularly adjust the ribs of the roll carried by said other shaft, said means including a sleeve loosely mounted on one of said shafts, a gear carried by said sleeve, co-operating clutch members fixedto saidsleeve and the shaft carrying said sleeve and means for preventing relative angular movement between said clutch members, a gear carried by the other of said shafts, a pair of meshing driving gears, one of which meshes with the gear carried by said sleeve and the other of which meshes with the gear carried by the other said shaft, the last mentioned driving gear being adapted for connection to power.

HARRY A. KESSLER. 

